The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-08-03

cooling retreShment Tor the thirsty. ABOVE
the barrel was placed the following on a
placard:
ssShun RUM drink this,
You'll find it's good advice,
| And if you wish to trade with us,
The profits will pay for the ice."
| Governor Martin on Prohibitions
Effect in Kansas.
In letter to the general manager OF the
Associated Press, Governor John A. Martin,
! of Kansas, says:
''On July2 dispatch was sent from st.
Joseph, Missouri, to a Chicago paper, in
which it was stated that the closing OF the
saloons in Atchinson, Kansas, has cut off the
most profitable source of revenue, amount
| ing to thousands of dollars year, and as
result the city has not revenue to keep going;
that the police force, with the exception Of
the Marshal and one policeman, had been
suspended; that the services Of the iremen
were to be dispensed with, and that the gas
and electric lights were to be shut off,"
"This dispatch was used by the Associated
Press and thus published in all parts of the
country. As result have received many
letters from different sections, making inqui-
rieS as to the truth of the statements it en-
bodied.
''The dispatch referred to was prompted by
two motives. 1t was first sent from town
&
city in Kansas; and it was inspired by the
whisky interest and intended to create the
impression that an efficient city government
could not be maintained without the revenue
derived from saloon licenses. I am thor
ouhly familiar with the condition of the city
of Atchison, and personally know that the
statements embodied in the st Joseph dis
electric lights and water supply of the city
have never been turned off. Its fire depart
ment has been and is continuously on duty.
Its police force has been largely reduced, but
has in the absence of the saloons been ample
to preserve the peace and protect the prop
erty of its citizens. A local dispute concern
ing methods of taxation, and involving the
the city of st. Joseph for many years past,
is the only foundation for the malicious and
untruthful dispatch from that place.
"This st. Joseph dispatch is only fair
specimen of hundreds of false and malicious
statements have seen published in the news
papers of the country during the last three
or four years, concerning Kansas and Kansas
towns. The whisky men predicted that the
abolition of saloons in Kansas would injuri-
ously affect the material prosperity of the
State, and falsehoods intended to confirm
this view are constantly invented and circu-
lated in every section of the country, and
especially in States where movements are
being made to Danish the saloons. am re-
ceiving letters daily from different States,
making inquiries concerning the effects and
results of our temperance laws on the finan-
cial, commercial and other material interests
of our State, and these letters all indicate
that the work Of maligning Kansas is going
on in every section of the country.
Zone argument of the whiskey interest, viz:
that saloons promote the prosperity and
growth Of communities, has been answered in
Kansas by the convincing logic Of facts. In
1880 the population Of this State as shown by
the census, was 996, ,096; in March, 1886, as
shown by the State census it was ], ,406, 1856;
and it is now fully 1,650, 900. In 1880 Kansas
had only 3,104 miles of railway within her
borders; on March /, 1887, the State Board Of
Railroad Assessors reported 6,2O7 miles for
taxation, and from 500 to 500 miles will be
added to this aggregate before the close OF
the year. In 1850 the assessed value Of all
the real and personal property of the State
aggregated only $160, ,S9l ,6S9; on March l,
present fiscal year the returns thus far re-
ceived indicate total of 10000, 900. In
1880 there were 5,315 schoolhouses, 2,514
churches, and BAT newspapers in Kansas there
are are now fully $500 school-houses, $500
churches and TOO newspapers. In 1880 only
fifty-fve towns and cities had populations in
excess Of 1000 each; IN 1887 more than 200
tOWllS nave SuCu ONSI l,OOU lllHdOlCoilIS, luuJ
twenty-five have each over 5000; and four
have each over 10000 In 1880 only S,S6S, 900
acres were planted in crops; this year the area
planted exceeds Ii, ,000, 900 acres. In 1850 the
value of the farm products of Kansas was
only sS4 ,52l 900; for 1885 their value was
over S264 900, 900. For the fiscal year, 1850,
the percentage of State taxation was five and
one-half mills; for the present fiscal year the
total percentage levied for all State purposes
is only four and one.half mills. In the last
two years and half have organized seven
teen counties in the western section of the
State, and census.takers have been appointed
for four other counties, leaving only two coun-
tics remaining to lie organized Summing up,
tohe facts of the census cOnfute and confound
those who assert that the material prosperity
of any community is promoted by the pres
ence of saloons. So far as Kansas and all her
cities and towns are concerned, the reverse Of
this assertion is true The most wonderful
era of prosperity, of material, moral and in
tellectual development, of growth in coun-
try, cities and towns, ever witnessed on the
American continent, has been Illustrated in
Kansas during the six years since the temper
ance amendment to our Constitution was
adopted, and especially during the last two
years, the period Of its most energetic and
complete enforcement"
Beer and Health.
A pamphlet sent out few months ago by
the Literary Bureau of the United States
Brewers Association, claiming exceptlona!
good health and longevity for men employed
in breweries and heavy beer-drinkers, called
forth the following noteworthy reply, pub
lished in the Insurance Monitor: 80
"Thomanns pamphlet, published in this
CITY short time ago in the interest OF the
brewers. in which it was attempted to prove
by statistics that beer-drinking is heaithy,
has called out the following criticism from
DIR. lBombaugh, whose long experience
as medical examiner enables him to
speak from the book: Thomann: SIM
Div proves what he did not start out 10
prove-that the robust men employed In the
| brewerics, who drink from forty to htty
| glasses of beer daily, remain in robust health
| for some wears by virtue of theirlarge amount
| of vital force and tenacity; not by virtue OF
| beer, but in spite of it, We have closely
watched the heavy beer-drinker in this com
munity, with reference to their mortality
| ratio, for more than twenty years, and our
| observations show that out of every hundred
who saturate themselves in this immoderate
way, not more than five pass the age OF
! fifty-three Those that escape Brlghts dls-
ease or urnmic poisoning become VIC
Tins of cirrhosis, or fatty degeneration, or
| erysipelas, or apoplexy. One or other or
these fatal diseases invariably gives the finish
ing touch to the splendid physique about
which Thomann rants, long before the period
Of natural expectation"
| Switzerland has voted two to one to place
the manufacture and sale Of splrituous liquors
solely in the hands of the government, max
ing it an exclusive government monopoly
The popular vote was 252,QQO In favor tc
! $4,000 opposed.